Refrigerating apparatus



June 2, 193%. D. G. ELLIS REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 15, 1954 INVENTOR. .50 G. ELL/6 Wm: a,

ATTORNEY.

Pars

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Don Ellis,

Detroit, Mich, 'assignor to Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application January 15,

The present invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and particularly to shelving of the cabinets.

. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide for hinging a shelf in position so that it can be readily moved from its horizontal article supporting position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stop at the hinged end of the shelf for preventm ing the shelf from swinging below its horizontal position.

A further object is to bracket for 'pivotally supporting a shelf in which the material is bent outwardly to form a horizontal socket arranged to receive a horizontal hinge member on the shelf.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying a preferred form of embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the upper part of a refrigerator cabinet looking from v 25 the front toward the rear and-showing my improved shelving arrangement in a folded position;v

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, on a large scale, of the hinged shelf, and supporting brackets there- 3 for; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2. Referring to the drawing, there is shown a refrigerating cabinet 20 having a food storage com- 35. partment 2| and inclosing an evaporator 22 of a mechanical refrigerator (not shown). Suitable supports are provided in the storage compartment 2| for supporting articles to be refrigerated and one of these supports is shown as comprising 40 a shelf 24 which rests upon pins-25. .Above-the shelf or support 24 is provided a hinged shelf 26. This hinged shelf is pivotally supported in the present illustration at the front and the rear and carried by the 45 lining 29 of the cabinet. This bracket is formed of sheet material, preferably sheet metal and is bulged inwardly. A bolt 30 having a non-circular shank portion 3| adiacent the head 32 extends inwardly through the lining 29 and the 50 shank portion 3| fits within a correspondingly shaped opening in the lining turning thereof. This bolt is threaded and is held in place by a nut 34. through the bracket 28 and the bracket is held in 55 place by a nut or hearing like member 35. A clip provide a sheet metal drawing wherein by two brackets 28 arranged.

29 to prevent the The bolt 30 extends 1934, Serial No. 706,699

96 is disposed between the nut 35 and the bracket 28 for avpurpose to be described. Thebracket 28 being bulged as shown, is depressed somewhat by the tightening of the nut ingly held in position due to the resiliency of the bracket by reason of the bulge.

The bracket 28 is slit horizontally part way across its face as at 38 and slit vertically down-, wardly' from the slit 38 as at 39 and 40. The tongue below the slit 38 and between slits 39 and 40 is bent outwardly as at 4| and upwardly as at 42 to provide a socket 43 which is open at opposite sides.

The shelf .26 comprises a wire frame 45 generally c shaped and strands 46 of wire are suitably bonded to the branches of the wire frame 45. These strands 46 form the'supporting surface. The wire frame includes inwardly extending horizontally disposed hinge members 41 which are received by the socket 43. The hinge members 4! merge into reverse by bent downwardly'and outwardly extending projections '49 which, when the shelf 26 is in its horizontal vertical starting position, engage the bracket and thus provide stop members for preventingthe swinging of the hinge below its horizontal position.

- The clip 36 carried by bolt 30 is formed of flexible material and the outer end thereof is in the form of a loop 50,.the lower portion of which loop lies in the path of movement of the innermost wire 46 and is arranged to snap over said strand 46 when the shelf is swung to its folded position and.

35 and is thereby yield-v l thereby yieldingly prevents the lowering of the shelf; Usually the food articles placed on the shelf 24 do not extend to the shelf thereabove and there- I fore the shelf thereabove can be utilized also for supporting articles to be refrigerated. It is desirable at times to refrigerate material in bottles and also desirable at times to stand the bottles erect. In accordance with the present invention, when a tall article such as a bottle is to be re frlgerated, the shelf 26 is folded to make room for the'upper part of the bottle.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein described constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be'adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow: I claim:

1. In combination, a plurality of brackets adapted tobe mounted on a vertical wall, said brackets each forming a horizontally disposed 7 ing into the sockets for pivotally' supporting the horizontal article supporting position.

2. A bracket for pivotally supporting a shelf comprising a sheet metal base having aninte'rmediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in said bulged portion providing a projecting'tongue and said tongue being bent outwardly and upwardly to provide a horizontally disposed socket open at bothv ends.

3. A bracket for pivotally supporting a shelf on a vertical wall comprising a sheet metal base having an intermediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in said bulged portion providing a projecting tongue bent outwardly and upwardly to provide a horizontally disposed socket open at both ends, an aperture through the upper portion of said base; fastening means extending through said aperture, an abutting bearingportion on said fastening means for clamping said base toward the wall and a shelf retaining member supported by said fastening means. 4. A refrigerator shelf comprising a substantially c-shaped frame, strands of open wire work supported by said frame, brackets for pivotally supporting said shelf, comprising sheet metal bases having an intermediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in each of said bulged portions providing a projecting tongue, each of said tongues being bent outwardly and upwardly to provide horizontally disposed sockets open at both ends for pivotally supporting the ends of said C-shaped frame.

5. A refrigerator shelf comprising a substantially c-shaped frame, strands of open wire work supported by said frame, brackets for pivotally supporting said shell, comprising sheet metal bases having an intermediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in each of said bulged portions providing a projectingtongue, each of said tongues being bent outwardly and upwardly to provide horizontally disposed'sockets open at both ends for pivotaliy supporting the ends of said C-shaped' frame, an aperture through the upper portion of each base, fastening means extending through said apertures, an abutting portion on said fastening, means for clamping said base against a wall, and shelf retainingv means supported by at least one of said fastening means to engage and retain, said shelf when it is turned toward the wall.

6. A refrigerator shelf comprising a substan- 1 tially c-shaped frame, strands of open wire work supported by said frame, brackets for pivotally supporting said shelf, comprising sheetmetal bases having an intermediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in each of. said bulged portions pro- 1:

viding a projecting tongue, each of said tongues being bent outwardly and upwardlyto provide horizontally disposed'sockets open vat both ends for pivotally supporting the ends of said c-shaped frame and reversely bent portions on the ends of 21 said c-shaped frame for engaging the brackets tosupport said shelf in horizontal article supporting position.

7. A refrigerator shelf comprising a substantially C-shaped frame, strands of open wire work 25 supported by said frame, brackets for pivotaily supporting said shelf, comprising sheet metal bases having an intermediate bulged portion thereon, a slit in each of said bulged portions providing a projecting tongue, each of said tongues 30 being bent outwardly and upwardly to provide horizontally disposed sockets open at both ends for pivotally supporting the ends of said C-shaped frame, reversely bent portions on the ends of'said C-shaped frame forengaging the brackets to sup- 35 port said shelf in horizontal article supporting sition; resilient shelf retaining means disposed to engage a portion'of said shelf for retaining it in vertical position, and fastening means for supporting said shelf retaining means and securing, said brackets to a vertical wall.

. I v DON G. m 

